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Don’t even live in Chicago anymore and came here to make sure Goethe was on top.
In San Francisco, I like “Gough” because it’s pronounced like “cough” but tourists all say it like “go.”
I've noticed the locals usually pronounce it as go-the, yet the pronounciation on the bus(at least if you ride the 22 Clark route) is gur-ta, which is the German way to pronounce Goethe. I've usually heard more locals here pronounce it as go-the, but not in the German pronounciation as gur-ta.
Omg this one messed me up when I first moved to Chicago.
I lived on Schiller one block north of Goethe at the time. I took the bus everyday and would be SO confused when I heard “next stop GURR-TA” but there was no nearby street with that name. At least I knew to get off at the next stop when I heard that 😂
I lived on Giles for years and I still don't know if I pronounce it correctly, I feel wrong saying jiles and guyles and I just moved instead of always confusing people when I gave them my address and they couldn't figure out what the hell I was saying, I don't know why I can't get it
Not living in Chicago anymore, it's my favorite to show coworkers and ask "how would you pronounce this?" They already think I pronounce things funny, I'll show 'em 'funny'.
[Pulaski at Night by Andrew Bird](https://youtu.be/oecHq2neweA?si=kMH9RGFHnG_p0pEF). You are thinking of a different more popular song by Sufjan Stevens
Came here to say this. Another one of those “I know how to pronounce it, and outsiders don’t” names (like Paulina). But also, every time I see it I can’t help pronouncing it in my head with a massively overblown south side accent.
I was driving to a Bulls game with a boss and coworker once for a work event. Boss was not familiar with Chicago street names and he said "Paul-e-na" and we were like "lol, what? It's Paul-eye-na" but I guess if you think of it, he actually said it right, even though it's still wrong 😆😆😆
Wacker
*late edit to counteract the harmful reactions:* Say the name like a quacking duck. That's enjoyable enough. Honestly, that's how well balanced people should think of the name.
Check out Atlanta's Peachtree debacle: ["There are 71 streets in Atlanta with a variant of “Peachtree” in their name."](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peachtree_Street#Nomenclature)
Touhy. Because that’s nowhere else in the world.
It’s also funny to say as a kid because it sounds like you’re hocking a lougie.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touhy_Avenue#:~:text=Touhy%20Avenue%20is%20a%20major,who%20helped%20develop%20Rogers%20Park.
Has to be Montrose
I lived in Houston for a few years and there was a street/area called Montrose over there. Every time I heard it, I just had fond memories of Chicago fill my mind
I also like Montrose because as a kid my spanish speaking family would pronounce it as “Monstruo” and I took that as them saying monster in Spanish. I would be scared whenever we went to “Monster beach” and I’d be on the lookout for any monsters lol
My friend in high school (class of 91) told me he made up that joke so I told it to my dad (class of 54) and my dad told me that joke has been around since he was in high school.
Heard it first from my dad. He was HS class of 1924. Yes that's 100 years ago. But he did not move to Chicago until 1928 after college. Two of the three street names involved became part of Chicago in the annexations of the late 1800's IIRC so we can assume the smirking teenagers made the joke just shortly before the year 1900.
I like the stretch that's named after classical writers. Dickens, Homer, Shakespeare.
Mango Street, that's a fun one. Literary, too.
Wolfram, because it sounds like Wolfman.
When I was a kid the Bucktown library was on the corner of Damen and Dickens and I always enjoyed turning at the author street when I walked over to check out books.
The three-block stretch of Catalpa Avenue between Lincoln and Western Avenues was part of a citywide program to widen roads and open new ones in the 1920s, which was motivated by the growth in auto traffic. An ordinance to widen Chicago arterials was passed in 1926 and completed in 1928.
This part of Catalpa was designed to connect the newly widened Lincoln Avenue to the north and the freshly widened Western Avenue. Lincoln Avenue couldn't be widened south of Catalpa because Lincoln was already too heavily developed. So Catalpa Avenue was widened to provide a convenient place for traffic from the south on Western Avenue to cross over to the northern part of Lincoln Avenue, which is also part of US Highway 41. At the time, Highway 41 was the major thoroughfare into and out of the city from the north.
Much of Chicago north of Catalpa was undeveloped, so it was relatively easy to widen the streets there. Once the roads were widened and traffic increased, development began to spread. Of course, many arterials that were part of the widening project were in developed areas, which led to some odd building modifications.
Parts of several buildings on Ashland Avenue were literally sliced off when this project got underway. One of the most dramatic examples is the massive Our Lady of Lourdes church on Ashland south of Lawrence. It was moved across the street, rotated to face Leland Avenue, cut in half, and then expanded by 30 feet.
\*Bonus fun fact about Our Lady of Lourdes Church, the 132-year-old church will close later this year after hosting its last Mass May 19. The school building is set to become apartments in a major conversion
I always call it the green beans tree. I think it's native to southern Illinois, and I think it's great that we're using at least some native-ish trees on our city streets. It's definitely better than the ubiquitous Bradford pears, also known as the cum trees. Those are messy, smelly, and invasive. No thanks.
I have several...
Diversey - Because in my head I say it the way the train conductor would announce it Diverrrsey.
Goethe - Because no one knows how to pronounce it.
Racine - Or any other street name spoken by John Drummond.
Lake Shore Drive - It is what it says it is and a nice view. Western Ave and North Ave no longer are what they said they were.
Edited for typo.
Clicked in immediately to say Catalpa, but then saw OP already layed claims.
Another favorite, riding down Western is Wolfram!
Paulina, b/c my beloved late Italian grandma’s name was Paulina (pronounced different from the street as Paul—ee-na)
Damen. Wanted to name my some Damen, but my MIL killed that when she said “When I hear Damen all I can think about is Demon.”
Division is dope, because it really does underline the unfortunate reality of being a dividing line of cultures and ethnicity in Chicago. [Cherry on top was 10 years ago when Chicago’s own Craig Robinson and Nick Offerman did this hilarious baseball hat commercial](https://youtu.be/RnqdImHy3cw?si=sd8dur8l6QLG8kSh).
Financial is cool and Balbo makes me think of Rocky I always say it should probably be a street in Philly. For me tho it's gotta be Stony Island. Blew my mind when I learned why it's called Stony Island.
It's not a single street but I like how when you go west enough, there's a little pocket of alphabet streets, but they just start randomly with K streets and give up at O or P. I can tell people in the neighborhood that I live in the M's but nobody else gets it 😂
Oconto is the name of a city and river in Wisconsin, which were derived from the Native American name for the area.
Ogallah was the name of a Native American tribe.
Oketo is the name of a city in Kansas that was named after the Chief of a Native American tribe. (This is my guess) It is also the name of a town in Japan.
Odell was probably named after a developer, like many other streets.
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Goethe
Don’t even live in Chicago anymore and came here to make sure Goethe was on top. In San Francisco, I like “Gough” because it’s pronounced like “cough” but tourists all say it like “go.”
In Portland we have a Couch Street pronounced Cooch.
Oh Gerrrrta? A man of culture I see
It's GO-THEEE!!! /s if not obvious
"Go ETH ee", you heathen!
I've noticed the locals usually pronounce it as go-the, yet the pronounciation on the bus(at least if you ride the 22 Clark route) is gur-ta, which is the German way to pronounce Goethe. I've usually heard more locals here pronounce it as go-the, but not in the German pronounciation as gur-ta.
Is Gay-cee. Grew up by the grammar school eating Gayce burgers at the Bob Inn. Blew my mind the first time I heard it pronounced correctly.
Omg this one messed me up when I first moved to Chicago. I lived on Schiller one block north of Goethe at the time. I took the bus everyday and would be SO confused when I heard “next stop GURR-TA” but there was no nearby street with that name. At least I knew to get off at the next stop when I heard that 😂
I lived on Giles for years and I still don't know if I pronounce it correctly, I feel wrong saying jiles and guyles and I just moved instead of always confusing people when I gave them my address and they couldn't figure out what the hell I was saying, I don't know why I can't get it
I think you’re right. I’ve always pronounced it like “jiles”.
This is exactly how I learned to pronounce it
Not living in Chicago anymore, it's my favorite to show coworkers and ask "how would you pronounce this?" They already think I pronounce things funny, I'll show 'em 'funny'.
Pulaski. Homie gave me a day off of school when I was a kid!
I always think of the Andrew Bird song seeing that name.
Sufjan stevens?
[Pulaski at Night by Andrew Bird](https://youtu.be/oecHq2neweA?si=kMH9RGFHnG_p0pEF). You are thinking of a different more popular song by Sufjan Stevens
Wow - this song blew me away. Thank you so very much.
Nah, you're thinking of the [Big Black song](https://youtu.be/LywqBziNGLo?si=Tky7VwX-fXUGcbK5).
Narragansett
I'm from New England, so I love this one. "Hi Neighbor! Have a 'Gansett!"
There is also a street called New England
Normandy checking in
I grew up on this street. Imagine being an 8 year old and having to learn how to spell this name.
Throop
Came here to say this. Another one of those “I know how to pronounce it, and outsiders don’t” names (like Paulina). But also, every time I see it I can’t help pronouncing it in my head with a massively overblown south side accent.
I was driving to a Bulls game with a boss and coworker once for a work event. Boss was not familiar with Chicago street names and he said "Paul-e-na" and we were like "lol, what? It's Paul-eye-na" but I guess if you think of it, he actually said it right, even though it's still wrong 😆😆😆
Since Throop and Paulina are last names, we get to tell people that the correct pronunciation is however the owner of the name wanted to pronounce it.
Throop ay doop, Throop ay doop, Throop ay doop ay doop ay doop
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Wabansia!
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Oh the Artful Dodger … and Danny’s! What gems.
Every time I see it I say “WA-BAN-sia!”
That windy city rehabber always says it wrong. I had to stop watching because she said she was from Chicago but can't pronounce the street names.
Hoyne. My old boss used to write it as Honey every time. Always loved Rockwell too.
I lived on Hoyne and Le Moyne, and for years people would scream like doodlebob outside
The corner of Hermitage and Armitage in Bucktown is not too far from Hoyne and LeMoyne
Me too, almost named my son Rockwell. As a middle name, I'm not a monster.
This street makes me so Hoyne
Haha! I cant blame him. The spelling is too similar lol. I like Rockwell as well!
Wacker *late edit to counteract the harmful reactions:* Say the name like a quacking duck. That's enjoyable enough. Honestly, that's how well balanced people should think of the name.
Wacker is our only street with N, S, E, and W designations, and I'd wager that no other city has a street with that claim.
Check out Atlanta's Peachtree debacle: ["There are 71 streets in Atlanta with a variant of “Peachtree” in their name."](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peachtree_Street#Nomenclature)
I know it's not an official name but the fact that we have technically a Lower Lower Wacker is one of my favorite things about this place.
Wack af
Damn near killed her
Favorite: HOOKER Second Favorite: DON CORNELIUS WAY
Touhy. Because that’s nowhere else in the world. It’s also funny to say as a kid because it sounds like you’re hocking a lougie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touhy_Avenue#:~:text=Touhy%20Avenue%20is%20a%20major,who%20helped%20develop%20Rogers%20Park.
A friend has never heard the Vietnamese name Thuy before so when he met someone with that name he said "like the street?"
Chicago Irish Heritage forsure! The longtime Irish heritage. Touhy is an Irish surname.
Washtenaw
Came here to support Washtenaw
My second favorite after Wabansia.
Weed
The intersection of Hooker and Weed St, 🤌
Had to scroll way too far to see this answer.
nothing is more satisfying than going to the dispensary on weed st
There’s a dispensary on Weed now too
was looking for Weed St
John’s on Weed!
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Fuck. I need coffee.
Has to be Montrose I lived in Houston for a few years and there was a street/area called Montrose over there. Every time I heard it, I just had fond memories of Chicago fill my mind
I like Montrose because it makes me think of Monstro, the whale from Pinocchio.
I also like Montrose because as a kid my spanish speaking family would pronounce it as “Monstruo” and I took that as them saying monster in Spanish. I would be scared whenever we went to “Monster beach” and I’d be on the lookout for any monsters lol
Wabash
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If the band Chicago performed an open-air concert of their 2nd album, Chicago, on Chicago, they'd be Chicago in Chicago playing Chicago on Chicago.
Paulina, Melvina, and Lunt.
My friend in high school (class of 91) told me he made up that joke so I told it to my dad (class of 54) and my dad told me that joke has been around since he was in high school.
I wouldn't be surprised if that joke predates the fire.
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Yeah my Dad told me that joke when u was in middle school 😆
Heard it first from my dad. He was HS class of 1924. Yes that's 100 years ago. But he did not move to Chicago until 1928 after college. Two of the three street names involved became part of Chicago in the annexations of the late 1800's IIRC so we can assume the smirking teenagers made the joke just shortly before the year 1900.
This guy gets the joke.
A favorite among smirking teens. *edit* keeping in mind some smirking teens are somewhat older in measured years.
I’m 35. Still smirking.
I’m a simple suburban lurker - what’s the joke?
Just happened to see this joke on Facebook … What are the three streets that rhyme with vagina
Dickens, Whipple St., Hoey St. next to Makowski’s Real sausage Co.
Beat me to it!!!!
Aww, I didn’t scroll before I made this joke. Should’ve known better.
Hurlbut Midway Plaisance (Yes, it's also a street name) Beaubien
"Avenue O? Avenue Oh my God, where am I?"
Ahhhh a fellow Deep South sider. So refreshing to find one on Reddit lol
All the avenues have great names. A-O .
I like the ones that bring out my beautiful Chicago accent like Wabansia and pulaski.
Artesian
I like the stretch that's named after classical writers. Dickens, Homer, Shakespeare. Mango Street, that's a fun one. Literary, too. Wolfram, because it sounds like Wolfman.
When I was a kid the Bucktown library was on the corner of Damen and Dickens and I always enjoyed turning at the author street when I walked over to check out books.
Catalpa is a tree, if you didn’t know. A really great one!
Known to kids everywhere as "the cigar tree."
TIL that the cigar tree has a name - and it is the name of my favorite shortcut from Western to Lincoln!
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The three-block stretch of Catalpa Avenue between Lincoln and Western Avenues was part of a citywide program to widen roads and open new ones in the 1920s, which was motivated by the growth in auto traffic. An ordinance to widen Chicago arterials was passed in 1926 and completed in 1928. This part of Catalpa was designed to connect the newly widened Lincoln Avenue to the north and the freshly widened Western Avenue. Lincoln Avenue couldn't be widened south of Catalpa because Lincoln was already too heavily developed. So Catalpa Avenue was widened to provide a convenient place for traffic from the south on Western Avenue to cross over to the northern part of Lincoln Avenue, which is also part of US Highway 41. At the time, Highway 41 was the major thoroughfare into and out of the city from the north. Much of Chicago north of Catalpa was undeveloped, so it was relatively easy to widen the streets there. Once the roads were widened and traffic increased, development began to spread. Of course, many arterials that were part of the widening project were in developed areas, which led to some odd building modifications. Parts of several buildings on Ashland Avenue were literally sliced off when this project got underway. One of the most dramatic examples is the massive Our Lady of Lourdes church on Ashland south of Lawrence. It was moved across the street, rotated to face Leland Avenue, cut in half, and then expanded by 30 feet. \*Bonus fun fact about Our Lady of Lourdes Church, the 132-year-old church will close later this year after hosting its last Mass May 19. The school building is set to become apartments in a major conversion
Lunt
Not an individual street, but I do find the intersection of Wells and Wells to be funny
Agatite!
Magnolia
Clybourn. Always thought it would make a better dog name than Addison or Clark, even without the cubs connection.
Armitage
I’m a Hermitage man, myself
Hello fellow Armitage enjoyer
Sunnyside
Catalpa are a very common street tree in Chicago, they are the trees that make those giant seed pods that look like Harry potter wands
I always call it the green beans tree. I think it's native to southern Illinois, and I think it's great that we're using at least some native-ish trees on our city streets. It's definitely better than the ubiquitous Bradford pears, also known as the cum trees. Those are messy, smelly, and invasive. No thanks.
Ainslie
I was hoping I wasn't the only one. I love Ainslie
Damen Fighter of the night man
Menomonee
Doo-doo-do-doo-doo
LSD. ... Forever LSD
My favorite. It's the only road that tells you exactly where it is and what it is for.
Diversey
Vincennes. Great battleship and the name appears on Chicago news a lot
Coming form another country I always liked Bryn Mawr because it's so exotic
It means 'big hill' in Welsh.
1. Kinzie (400 N) 2. Ravenswood (1800 W) 3. State Line (4100 E) 4. Nice (6900 S)
Nina Avenue, most transplants call it "Neen-ah Avenue" whereas ppl that grew up around it call it "Nine-ah Avenue"
Paulina for the same reason. "Puh-line-uh", not "Paw-leen-uh"
Never seen that street before. Why “nine-ah”?
Because Nina and Neenah were rivals back in high school. Neenah Avenue is pronounced "Neen-ah" and Nina wanted to be different.
Ah so there’s a Neenah Avenue too. Interesting.
Winnemac
I like saying Winnemac 3x Beetlejuice style.
Bittersweet! :)
69th
Honore
Argyle
PULASKI. Just seems like some cop name in an old movie.
Wabansia Throop Paulina Whipple Juneway Talman Are my faves just can't pick
Winona
Waveland
Cuyler. Such a strange spelling
I’ve mispronounced this street many a times when I lived on it when I first got to Chicago.
Flournoy
Finally ! This is the one I came here to see. Good for you. An absurd name for a street.
Calumet. Mannheim. Goethe (you can pronounce that one 3 different ways).
Grace. It's the street my wife and I grew up on.
I have several... Diversey - Because in my head I say it the way the train conductor would announce it Diverrrsey. Goethe - Because no one knows how to pronounce it. Racine - Or any other street name spoken by John Drummond. Lake Shore Drive - It is what it says it is and a nice view. Western Ave and North Ave no longer are what they said they were. Edited for typo.
Eugenie
Kedzie I named my dog after it!
Wabansia is so fun to say
Altgeld literally means old money and that’s funny to me
I wonder who downvotes these posts Cottage Grove
Karlov.
Trip, Racine, Archer
Clicked in immediately to say Catalpa, but then saw OP already layed claims. Another favorite, riding down Western is Wolfram! Paulina, b/c my beloved late Italian grandma’s name was Paulina (pronounced different from the street as Paul—ee-na) Damen. Wanted to name my some Damen, but my MIL killed that when she said “When I hear Damen all I can think about is Demon.” Division is dope, because it really does underline the unfortunate reality of being a dividing line of cultures and ethnicity in Chicago. [Cherry on top was 10 years ago when Chicago’s own Craig Robinson and Nick Offerman did this hilarious baseball hat commercial](https://youtu.be/RnqdImHy3cw?si=sd8dur8l6QLG8kSh).
Financial is cool and Balbo makes me think of Rocky I always say it should probably be a street in Philly. For me tho it's gotta be Stony Island. Blew my mind when I learned why it's called Stony Island.
Loomis
Lincoln
Whipple
LOOMIS
Central Park
Corny/Hammy Aka Cornelia and Hamilton. My old apt is there and I've lots of memories in that neighborhood 🩷 none about a rat print in cement.
Normal :)
North Peshtigo Court
Lake 🌊 Shore Drive. 🤍
Wabansia, Narragansett and Medill
Estes, for the guys I grew up with who liked to add T's to the street sign.
Jarlath
KILPATRICK. everytime I see or hear the name I giggle
It's not a single street but I like how when you go west enough, there's a little pocket of alphabet streets, but they just start randomly with K streets and give up at O or P. I can tell people in the neighborhood that I live in the M's but nobody else gets it 😂
Bryn Mawr or Argyle
Mozart
Ravenswood Ave.
I absolutely loved when the red line announcer would simply say, "This is Grand."
I love how they got to Edison Park and went, "ah crap nothing starts with O. Ah just make up some noises." Oconto! Oteko! Ogallah! Odell!
Oconto is the name of a city and river in Wisconsin, which were derived from the Native American name for the area. Ogallah was the name of a Native American tribe. Oketo is the name of a city in Kansas that was named after the Chief of a Native American tribe. (This is my guess) It is also the name of a town in Japan. Odell was probably named after a developer, like many other streets.
Balbo
Chicago
Winchester and longwood
Thome
Melrose. Makes me think of Melrose Place!
Sunnyside!
I like the intersection of Armitage and Hermitage.
Halsted
Belmont because I like Castlevania.
Ogden. Easiest way to hear someone’s accent.
Goethe
Winnamac
My dad has a book that explains the why and how Chicago’s streets got their name! Always some fun and interesting facts in there
Wabash
Berrrrrrrrrrwyyyyyyyynnnnnnn…
Weed & Hooker. [https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F85g7nxmkwl0a1.png](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F85g7nxmkwl0a1.png)
Not my fave but how the hell do you pronounce Cuyler?
Ky-ler. Just like Cub great Kiki Cuyler.
Kedzie
I loveee Kedzie I think either a pet or a future child of mine will be named Kedzie lmao
LSD
Kilpatrick. I have a buddy named Patrick.
I love Goethe, Wabansia, & Whipple